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A Failed Presidency

A new CBS News poll shows only 37 percent of Americans now approve of the job Mr. Obama is doing as president, while 57 percent disapprove of him.

A 20-point approval-disapproval gap in politics is worrisome. And so is having your party turn on you with a vengeance.

A case in point: the Hill newspaper reports that Obama’s relationship with congressional Democrats has worsened to an unprecedented low, according to Democratic aides.

According to the story:

They are letting it be known that House and Senate Democrats are increasingly frustrated, bitter and angry with the White House over ObamaCare’s botched rollout, and that the president’s mea culpa in a news conference last week failed to soothe any ill will.

Sources who attended a meeting of House chiefs of staff on Monday say the room was seething with anger over the immense damage being done to the Democratic Party and talk was of scrapping rollout events for the Affordable Care Act.

“Here we are, we’re supposed to be selling this to people, and it’s all screwed up,” one chief of staff ranted. “This either gets fixed or this could be the demise of the Democratic Party.” “It’s probably the worst I’ve ever seen it,” the aide said of the recent mood on Capitol Hill. “It’s bad. It’s really bad.”

The Hill story went on to report that Democrats in both chambers who are up for reelection in 2014 are unnerved.

“They’re freaking out, as they should be,” said one senior Senate Democratic aide, adding that the rollout continues to be “a lasting mess.” Indeed. According to the CBS poll, just seven percent of Americans think the Affordable Care Act is working well and should be kept in place as it is.

This is a fascinating and fluid moment in our politics. The Obama presidency is imploding, with one problem catalyzing another. The combination of a structurally flawed program and staggering incompetence, with the added touch of Mr. Obama’s serial deceptions, has cause a remarkably swift collapse in public support for the president.

This in turn has caused Democrats on Capitol Hill, particular those up for reelection in purple and red states, to turn against the president. Even former President Bill Clinton has decided it’s OK to show up Mr. Obama.

What is most worrisome for Democrats, however, is this epic programmatic failure isn’t about to end. There are more shoes to drop, more problems around the corner, more swelling anger to come from the public.

When it comes to ObamaCare and its multiplying disasters, there doesn’t appear to be an off switch. I don’t think it’ll lead to the demise of the Democratic Party. But it may go some distance toward ensuring a failed presidency for Mr. Obama.